Thinking outside the (62 inch HD flat screen) box

Marketers are now relying on the smaller screens to send a message. Like everything else, the Super Bowl has evolved into a multi-screen experience with viewers looking to watch a good game and see great commercials.

These same viewers also have their smartphone in hand refreshing news feeds to keep up with all aspects of the big game. As society becomes more connected and social networks are more influential, the way brands reach their consumers no longer lies solely in paying millions of dollars for a TV spot during the Super Bowl. Even the brands that do opt-in for the traditional forms of advertising are now complimenting their ads with #hashtags, YouTube videos, or both. But for those without the big TV budgets, social media is a main stage for clever marketers to take advantage of.

Last year, 360i and Oreo set the bar extremely high with their You Can Still Dunk In The Dark tweet during the blackout at Super Bowl XLVII.

The tweet instantly went viral with over 10,000 retweets on Twitter and over 18,000 likes on Facebook in its first hour of being on the internet. Without spending a penny, one tweet earned 525 million impressions and a ton of buzz around the Oreo brand.

Not to mention, the campaign earned a slew of awards  all for an advertising campaign with no pre-set media plan with no budget allocations and definitely not a detailed timeline with agreed upon success metrics.

This year, Oreo passed the viral tweet torch to Buffalo Wild Wings.

A simple, Sorry fans, we don't have a button for this." tweet followed similar fashion to the Oreo tweet and garnered 15,000 retweets within the first 24 hours of being on Twitter. The tweet corresponded to the outcome of the game while also stayed on brand with other advertising efforts by BWW.

The reason these campaigns were successful is because they were relevant and directly connected to what was happening in the game.

While Buffalo Wild Wings was the clear winner in online advertising, there were also some forced executions_ similar to Peyton' two interception passes.

JCPenney posted tweets from the point of view of someone who took full advantage of the term Sunday Funday. Other brands were able to join in, with Doritos suggesting some chips and Kia offering a ride home but overall, the tweets fell short.

In contrast to the Oreo and Buffalo Wild Wing tweets that were relevant to the game, JCP made a play on the simple fact that it is the last Sunday of football season and cold beer was served at every Super Bowl Party known to man. Regardless of what happened in the game, the tweets resembled that of a drunken intern who forgot to logout of the company Twitter on their phone. A concept most likely thought up in a strategy meeting weeks before Super Bowl Sunday. The tweets were almost as disappointing as the Broncos performance.

The advertising surrounding the Super Bowl is arguably as anticipated as the actual game and just like the game, there is a winner and a loser. All that is yet to be determined is if Buffalo Wild Wings is going to Disney World!